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Centre County regiment makes a stand during the Battle of Gettysburg

Centre County regiment makes a stand during the Battle of Gettysburg

More than 700 new recruits responded. When President Lincoln called for 300,000 more troops to quell the rebels from the South, Centre County produced 700 able-bodied men who would largely fill the roster of the 148th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry regiment. Later tagged the Centre County regiment, it was led by Col. James Beaver, who would go on to become the 20th governor of Pennsylvania as well as acting president of Penn State after the death of George Atherton. Wounded in a previous battle, Beaver would not lead his troops through one of the most legendary battlefields of the Civil War -- Gettysburg. Carol Reardon, George Winfree Professor of American History at Penn State, recounts that July 2 day during the 1863 campaign where the 148th, along with countless others, fought to hold together the Union.